Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 14:30:05 -0500
From: "Joan C. Cook"
Subject: Re: Political Blunder
On Fri, 10 Nov 1995, BRIAN E MULLINS wrote:
> Being from
> Detroit and then moving to Kentucky I have heard numerous racial slurs
> but this one is one I never heard. Is there such a slur? What does it
> mean? The only guess I have is one that once owned numerous slaves was
> "nigger rich."
Yes, it's a racial slur, but not about slaveowning. If you're used to
having lots of money, and you find $5 on the sidewalk, it's no big deal;
but if you win the lottery, you're rich. If you're used to getting by on
next to nothing, and you find $5 on the sidewalk, you suddenly *feel* rich.
How, in the context, Sen. Ford could've misheard "near rich" beats me;
[s] doesn't transmit well over phone lines, but [g] does, doesn't it?
--Joan
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Joan C. Cook Imagination is
Department of Linguistics more important
Georgetown University than knowledge.
Washington, D.C., USA
cookj[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]gusun.georgetown.edu --Albert Einstein
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